Gen 3 Camary Start Up And Shut Down

[Spike23]

Hey guys,

So my dad was driving the cam today, and he parked for a few mins and left the ignition key on the on so he could listen to some music after a few mins he started the car up. The car started up fine..but then few seconds shut down. Since i wasn't there..thats the best information i got from him.
My assumption is the alternator going bad...but i have yet to check..i prob need to go buy a volt meter and see what happens. Any suggestions peeps?
This is the first time this has happened.

[campfire9]

When was the last time you checked out your battery? Check it while your at it because it may be at a stage that it won't hold a charge and that can happen all at any time.

[hooRAH]

Unlikely that you have battery or alternator problems. If you had enough juice to start the car (and not notice that the car was cranking slowly), then you would have enough battery power to at least run the car for 30mins to an hour.

More likely I think you're describing a stall on warm startup, which is often caused by a dirty throttle body or idle air control motor. Might want to clean those out and see if it helps.

[Spike23]

Originally Posted by hooRAH

Unlikely that you have battery or alternator problems. If you had enough juice to start the car (and not notice that the car was cranking slowly), then you would have enough battery power to at least run the car for 30mins to an hour.

More likely I think you're describing a stall on warm startup, which is often caused by a dirty throttle body or idle air control motor. Might want to clean those out and see if it helps.

Hmm this could be a reason.
How would i clean the throttle body?

Thanks for the feedback btw guys.

[Spike23]

Originally Posted by campfire9

When was the last time you checked out your battery? Check it while your at it because it may be at a stage that it won't hold a charge and that can happen all at any time.

Ya might check the battery too.
But not now since its still damn cold out.
Going to buy a volt meter sometime soon.

[Mazeraski]

Originally Posted by Spike23

Hmm this could be a reason.
How would i clean the throttle body?

Thanks for the feedback btw guys.

If you have the 4 cylinder; Throttle Body cleaning
The V-6: TB cleaning

The 4 cylinder one was done on a 2000 Camry. I'm not sure how similar this is from generation to generation, so maybe someone else can answer that; I don't want to give you wrong information

Be sure to read the whole thread. Be careful while doing it though; sticking sharper objects like a screwdriver in there can scratch the coating or damage the throttle body, so watch out. Use something that won't cause this to happen. This is something I was thinking of doing myself sometime as well

Originally Posted by Spike23

Ya might check the battery too.
But not now since its still damn cold out.
Going to buy a volt meter sometime soon.

If there is an Autozone or Advanced Auto Parts near you, they test the alternator and battery for free, although from the information you gave it doesn't sound like a battery problem at least.